Game Features: A List of WWI Games To Not Pass Up

Game Features: A List of WWI Games To Not Pass Up

Despite the lack of attention from game studios, television and films, there still exist a handful of good WWI games worth checking out.

While perusing new titles on Steam, XBOX Live and your local GameStop, it’s hard not to notice the clear dearth of WWI games available. Why is this? The First World War has more than its share of strategy and tactics, weird technology and epic battles to showcase. It was also no small conflict—involving more than 30 countries, casualties nearing 10 million and the largest arms race in the history of the world, there’s plenty of material for game designers to work with.

You could make the case that the nature of the conflict doesn’t lend it self to easy adaptation for the most popular game genres: with the long, drawn-out trench battles and the hurry-up-and-wait pace of battle, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a realistic WWI FPS. (But that’s not to say the task is impossible.)

In fact, there have been quite a handful of games over the years that have tried to pay homage to the Great War. Here’s our a list of a few you might want to check out if you haven’t already.

No seriously. This is a WWI game. …At least, that’s how it starts out.

The Wasted Land is an interesting mobile game that combines elements of Lovecraft’s Herbert West—Reanimator and the original Call of Cthulhu RPG. (It is, however, easier to play than the original.)

A mix of turn-based strategy and RPG, you start the game by controlling a small British unit who find themselves locked down in the trenches. Soon you meet up with Professor Brightmeer, who’s hot on the hells of some secret cult using stolen technology to build an undead army.

The start of the game is straight up trench warfare—by the end… well you know where this is going. Check it out if you’re looking for a mobile strategy game that’s well put-together and provides a decent challenge.

Another mixed genre title, Toy Soldiers is an action-strategy game released by Signal Studios for Windows in 2012, and XBox in 2010. As the name implies, players control an army of toy soldiers set agaisnt a landscape of wood and plastic. You’ll also have at your disposal fleets of tanks, cavalry units and biplanes. Positioning your men is important, but the game also allows you to take direct control of your men to see the battle from their perspective.

Toy Soldiers has enjoyed a fair amount of popularity since its release, and the studio has also rolled out plenty of DLC to keep the action fresh.

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While only a mod for the ever-popular Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 1918 is set in World War I, but covers a number of different countries and theatres of war. The maps themselves do contain some historical elements: “Broken Hill” was inspired by a real event that took place in the Australian town on New Year’s Day in 1915.

In additon to aircraft, players can also take control of other vehicles, including some ships. It’s not just a map & pallet mod, however; you’re going to have your work cut out for you to stay alive with the more realistic damage levels. If you liked 1942, definitely give 1918 a go.

Well c’mon, we had to mention Valiant Hearts. A fun game with decent puzzles, its strength is definitely in its storytelling and art direction.

The controls are relatively simple to pick up for any casual player, and the game does a good job at providing guidance early on for the coordination-impaired. Clocking in at around six hours of playing time, the overall gameplay mixes in elements of platforming, treasure hunting, and puzzle solving, though the puzzles are on the simple side and could use more of a challenge.

You can read the rest of our review here, but despite some shortcomings, this is definitely one of the better WWI games to come out for mobile platforms in recent years.

The largest cavalry battle of the American Civil War took place at Brandy Station, Virginia, where J.E.B. Stuart’s Confederates and Alfred Pleasonton’s Federals clashed, swords flashing and pistols blazing.